


virtual ending

by dreamerfound



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, End of the World, Gen, Sad Ending, The Framework Universe (Marvel), Trope Bingo Round 10, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 20:03:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13508793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerfound/pseuds/dreamerfound
Summary: Framework Grant Ward tries to come to grip with the end of everything.





	virtual ending

**Author's Note:**

> Written for trope_bingo round #10  
> prompt: unhappy ending

Ward laughed when they told him his world wasn’t real, that he wasn’t real. It sounded crazy. It sounded unbelievable, but then people started blinking out of existence right in front of his eyes, and it was hard not to believe that maybe they had been telling him the truth.

Grant Ward once prided himself on doing the right thing. Making the right choices, even when it was difficult, even when it cost him. Not always of course, but after Victoria Hand had shown him another way, he was careful not to stray far from the path of what he knew was right. Now it turned out that he hadn’t done any of those things. He hadn’t done anything at all. None of it was real. None of it had mattered. It had all been a lie. No, not a lie, more like a dream. He had never joined S.H.I.E.L.D., never worked for HYDRA, never joined the resistance. He had never shot a gun, never kissed a girl, never even taken a breath because there was no him. He wasn’t real. He was part of some computer program that was apparently being slowly deleted and damn did he need a drink right now. 

There hadn’t been a chance to say goodbye to Skye. His Skye. Daisy wasn’t his. She wouldn’t even look at him for more than a second at a time. She flinched when he touched her. His Skye never did that. His Skye had wanted to move in with him. He should have said yes. It hadn’t mattered, but he should have said yes anyway. It hurt and that was the kicker, wasn’t it? He hurt. He felt pain, or at least he thought it was pain. Though, how could he even know what hurting really felt like, how could he know anything?

Grant had watched Daisy reunite with her people. The ones that were *real*. He had hoped that when they left; when they returned to their world, that his Skye would return to him. The Skye he’d betrayed HYDRA for, the one that he’d loved. But she hadn’t. She was gone and soon he would be too. Everything was falling apart around him. He wasn’t stupid, he knew this was the end.

The air smelled of dust and ash. The man he’d been talking to several minutes ago had just faded away. One minute he was standing there talking to Ward about their next move and the next minute he was gone. His stomach growled and he remembered it’d been hours since he’d eaten breakfast. Except it hadn’t been, had it? He’d never eaten breakfast. He’d never eaten anything. The idea that no choice that he ever made ever meant anything hurt. He didn’t want to think that. It wasn’t fair. He wanted to be real, he wanted the things he’d done to have mattered. How could he not be real?

It was almost over now. The spot on his foot where he’s shoes pinched didn’t hurt anymore. His leather jacket felt lighter. The room around him was coming apart at the seams. The color bleeding out of everything. He was fading away. He wasn’t going to magically become real. He was going to cease to exist. He reached out in an attempt to hold on and he could see through his hand. The soft sound of his laughter lingered after he was gone.


End file.
